Novak lined up; Manu carries fat lip east

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The Spurs are prepared to sign four-year NBA veteran Steve Novak to a 10-day contract, placing him on deck to become the latest player to claim the team’s 13th roster spot this season.

Novak, a 6-foot-10 3-point specialist who has previously played for Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas, could join the Spurs in time for tonight’s game at Detroit.

A former Marquette standout, the 27-year-old Novak has appeared in 202 NBA games and is a career 40.6-percent shooter from 3-point range. His best season came in 2008-09, when he made 119 of 286 3-pointers in 71 games with the Clippers.

Novak most recently appeared in seven games this season with Dallas and has played in two games with Reno of the Development League.

The Spurs have been in need of a league-mandated 13th player since Saturday, when they cut ties with Larry Owens after a pair of 10-day contracts, reducing their roster to one under the NBA minimum.

FAT LIP: Manu Ginobili boarded the Spurs’ charter plane Monday afternoon, bound for Detroit and the start of the eastern leg of the rodeo road trip carrying an extra piece of baggage.

A still-fat lip courtesy of teammate Gary Neal.

Ginobili saw a dentist in the immediate aftermath of the meeting between his face and Neal’s elbow, late in the Spurs’ victory at Sacramento on Friday.

“My teeth started hurting, my jaw hurt, the lip all swollen,” Ginobili said. “There were no stitches. The dentist saw me right afterward and said it will heal if I give it four or five days.”

The swollen lip, which was heavily coated in ChapStick after Monday’s practice, might affect Ginobili’s appearance over the next few days, but it isn’t expected to affect his performance on the court. He is expected to be fully available for tonight’s game against the Pistons.

Ginobili insists he harbors no hard feelings for Neal, who inadvertently elbowed him while grabbing a rebound at Sacramento.

“I punched him in the showers just now,” Ginobili joked. “I got upset and, boom, hit him right back.”

ANDERSON TO AUSTIN: The Spurs assigned rookie guard James Anderson to the Development League’s Austin Toros for the second time Monday, in hopes of finding him minutes on the way back from a right foot injury.

Anderson, who missed nearly three months after suffering a stress fracture in his fifth metatarsal Nov. 11, appeared in three of four games after returning to the Spurs on Jan. 29. He appeared in two games in his previous rehab stint in Austin, averaging 14.5 points in 14 minutes.

INJURY UPDATES: Sharpshooting big man Matt Bonner is closer to returning after missing 10 games with a marrow edema in his right knee, but his status for tonight’s game remains uncertain.

Reserve guard George Hill, who sat out the second half of Friday’s win in Sacramento with a sore left ankle, is expected to play.